Abstract
The shattering transition expected upon ultrafast heating has been observed in size selected clusters, to 40, upon impact at supersonic velocities on a graphite surface. As a function of the impact velocity, the transition is between the recoil of the intact parent cluster and the appearance of small, charged fragments. As the cluster size increases, the transition becomes a sharper function of the impact velocity. The experimental fragmentation pattern is well accounted for by a distribution of maximum entropy subject to conservation of energy, atoms, and charge.
- Received 21 June 1995
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.75.2670
©1995 American Physical Society